A monster most every weekday. Three adventure seeds a post.
Because Pathfinder and 3.5 are more fun than work.
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Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Crystal Golem

Note: The “Crone Queen”
entry went up earlier today, so be sure to check it out too.

I’m not sure where the association between psionics and
crystals came from in D&D—it seemed firmly in place by Dragon #281’s exploration of the 3.0 psionic rules (which was
pretty much the apex of my paying attention).(Out-of-game, I’m assuming the answer is pulp sci-fi novels and the ’70s
in general).But vestiges of that
connection linger in Pathfinder’s psychic magic, giving us the crystal golem.

These are not golems to dis either.They basically throb with psychic energy,
acting as metamagic amplifiers for any psychic caster within 30 ft.(That can lead to some interesting tactical
choices on both sides of the table if, say, a psychic bad guy and his crystal
henchgolems go up against psychic PCs).Crystal golems can also punch into the Ethereal Plane.Oh, and they have the ability explode head.I repeat: explodehead.THAT IS A REAL THING THEY CAN DO.

Given that I grew up game-planning what I would do against
the laser-shooting sphinxes of The
NeverEnding Story, crystal golems that hum with such energy that they can
burst crania don’t seem that outlandish.So I’m on board with these guys!

A series of meteors
slam into the Anchorite Peaks, cracking open to reveal dazzling geodes—and
crystal golems.The fact that the
gemstone monsters are constructs and not biological or elemental creatures suggests
that the meteor strikes are no natural phenomena.

Dwarves who fight
aboleths and other psychic threats sometimes learn psychic talents of their
own…talents that often get them ostracized from their communities.Rather than upset their superstitious neighbors,
these dwarves dwell in the lowest chambers, holding lonely vigils against
threats in the dark.Rather than rely on
nervous (and easily dominated)
guardsmen for assistance, they craft crystal golems to be their backup
instead.In contrast, duergar
(particularly duergar tyrants) embrace both psychic magic and crystal golems,
but their shoddy craftsmanship usually manifests in the end result, leading to
golems that are more brittle (DR 8 instead of 10) or more vulnerable to shatter (slowing the golem for 4 rounds
instead of 3).

The Star of Bessaly
is a famous asteriated ruby whose star seems to float in the air above the
surface of the stone.A Shermod merchant
prince announces his plans to make a gift of the gem to the dowager queen—and set
in the brow of a rose quartz statue no less.The gift is a trap.The Shermod
prince is a rakshasa psychic assassin, and the Star of Bessaly powers an
especially fearsome crystal golem.

—Pathfinder Bestiary 5
126

I had a babysitter named Crystal.This was a thing that could happen in 1982 in
Oklahoma.

The psionic-focused Dragon
#281 is actually an issue I’ve found myself going back to several times.The three psionics-focused articles were
great teasers for the then-new Psionics
Handbook while still being complete, interesting pieces themselves.It’s also got a Fool Wolf story—pretty much
the only fiction in Dragon worth
discussing after 1995—and “Subterranean Scares,” a bestiary of weird Underdark monsters
that I’ve referenced several times in this space.Worth looking for.

By the way, please forgive the occasional typos. I am aware of them, but disagreements between MS Word and the Blogger template make my entries nearly impossible to edit once posted. I blame gremlins. You can find a more polished version of this blog over on Tumblr.